Bears defense look to return to 'Monstrous' ways

BOURBONNAIS — The Chicago Bears are already talking about going back to their old style of play, especially on defense.

Jay Taft

BOURBONNAIS — The Chicago Bears are already talking about going back to their old style of play, especially on defense.

In fact, several players have been spotted wearing their “Monsters of the Midway” T-shirts, and have been heard talking about the Bears of the ‘80s and before, and wanting to revert back to the old way of doing things.

“I saw my T-shirt sitting on my bed when I checked in to my room, and it motivated me right away. We want to be the Monsters of the Midway again,” defensive lineman Mark Anderson said today, when the Bears held their first training camp practice. “We know we’re still the focus. Defense wins championships, and as long as we play hard and do our thing, we can make a lot of noise.”

The players don’t shy away from talking about last year’s interception (13), fumble recovery (15) and sack (35) totals, and insisting it will change this season. The defense — once predicated on turning takeaways into points — scored only one touchdown off an interception, and rarely gave the offense the ball in good field position because of its stinginess.

Corner back Charles Tillman, the lone Bear to return an interception for a score last year, hauled in the first interception of training camp Friday to get the ball rolling.

“We want to score when we get the chance this year. The attitude is that we want to get that ball when it comes our way and take it in for a score. That’s what will make this defense a dominant one again,” Tillman said. “To score on defense it takes all 11 guys. Sometimes the pressure causes it, or someone in the backfield making a big play, but all 11 guys have to contribute.”

Tillman, and plenty of other Bears defenders at camp in Bourbonnais for the next 2½ weeks, said he believes it will happen more often this season. They did snag three picks during the closing offense-defense drill in Friday’s practice, but they also dropped a few that had defensive backs coach Jon Hoke a little irritated by the end of it.

“We need to get to that ball and hang on. This defense is built around getting turnovers, and we need to make sure we emphasize it hard all over the place, and all the time,” Hoke said. “The sad thing is we got three today, but it could have been a seven- or eight-turnover day. We dropped four or five of them, and it’s still an issue.

“We’ve got to get interceptions, cause fumbles or whatever. We just need to do something.”

New defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli’s attitude toward playing aggressive defense, or sitting on the bench, has already kicked in, even though the team has had just one real practice.

And with linebacker Brian Urlacher returning to action, and defensive end Julius Peppers expected to boost the pass rush, there’s good reason for their newly found confidence.

“This year, we’re going into it thinking that when the ball is in the air, it’s ours. Turnovers are going to be huge for us this year,” said defensive back Craig Steltz, who also grabbed a pick in the first practice. “Everyone is trying to make plays out there, even in camp. We know we’ve all got to do our part in making sure this team gets more turnovers this year. We’ve got to get the ball back to our offense, that’s all there is to it.”

Bears reporter Jay Taft can be reached at 815-987-1384 or jtaft@rrstar.com.